(Page 1 of 2)

Well, my old BottomLine Fishing Buddy gave up and I am looking at something new but say under $250. I thought I would go with the Garmin 300c but then noticed that it did not have side finding capabilities vs the Humminbird Fishing Buddy with side sonar. Can anyone tell me if the Garmin would give side viewing with the dual transducer? I am a little confused by the terms and cannot find any clarification. I like the price and color scheme of the Garmin but I think I really need side finding. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks all!

Welcome to the site! Curious as to what type of fishing you do. I am not familiar with the Garmin products. Humminbird makes the Fishing Buddy and their model 120 has the side finder on it. MSRP is $169.99. The 130 is $219.99. I have the old bottom line Fishing buddy II that I let my son use. It is a pretty decent unit for what it did. I now use the Humminbird 565. It doesn't have the side finder but it is dual beam. Since I do more vertical stuff anyway the dual beam works best for me.

Which brings upmy question. If you had an OLD fishing buddy it could have been Bottom Line. Humminbird bought it and they improved them 100%. I am partial to Humminbird so keep that in mind.

Do you want a self contained battery or are you willing to use one of the small 12 Volt sealed batteries? Are you will to modify it to fit your needs? To put a boat sonar on a pontoon or a tube takes a little imagination.

We just picked up the dual beam Humminbird 570 for $199. Large cone is the attraction to this one.

http://www.boatersworld.com/product/MP63526562.htmI was interested in this Garmin unit for its color screen and dual beam with broad 60 or 120 degree cone angle. I fish mainly shallow stillwaters so wanted something that would apply for the depth. Garmin gets great reviews and rigging it for my watermaster kick boat should not be a problem. The more I read though the more confused I get. I definitely wanted something with side sonar and as best I can tell I would not be getting this with this unit even with the dual beam. Does your dual beam humminbird allow you to see off to the sides?

The Humminbird 570 (I use the 565) has dual beam technology. Here is a screen shot from the Humminbird site for the 570. The dark fish marks are directly below the craft (transducer) and the white outlined fish marks are in the wider beam away from the craft. If you want color then the 586c, 587ci, and 596c are available in this series. The second pic shows how the dual beam works. Hope this helps!

Here is a link from the Humminbird site that gives the info on this. This might help you understand what the dual beam is. I know it is not Garmin but hey info is info.

"dualbeam plus sonarWith DualBeam PLUS™ sonar, you have a narrowly focused center beam, surrounded by a second beam of 60º, expanding your coverage to an area equal your depth - in 20 feet of water, the wider beam covers an area 20 feet wide. The first beam is focused on the bottom, to show you structure, weeds and cover. The second beam is hunting for fish in the wide coverage area. You can sue the beam independently, yet working together, they give a you a clearer picture of what's going on underneath the boat. "

I bought a Humminbird Fishin' Buddy 140C (color) last year and have been very satisfied with what it does. It shows depth, water temp, and bottom structure with the "down" view. The sidefinder view is part of the package too. I mostly fish shallow bays on medium to small lakes for panfish here in Wisconsin. At $280, it does blow your budget a bit. I've been working on some mods for my inflatable one-man pontoon. I'll try post pics of my home-rigged Fishin'Buddy mounting mod soon or you could look for my previous posts to see some pics. Good luck on your search and your decision. It's always fun. SD Motak

Thanks Watertooner, after looking further yesterday I started to understand that side view is definitely different from dual beam. It looks as though even though dual beam increases the viewing circle it does not offer that view of fish lying very shallow (8-12ft) 30-40ft from my boat. So I am back to looking at the Humminbird140. I would love to see pics of your set up as my old BottomLine stick set-up was never satisfactory so I will be building something else as a support. Thanks again and I will try to find some of your older posts.

Side finders are at a cost aren't they. The Fishing Buddy's do offer that but sacrifice on the cone size big time and to be honest, my Phone has a bigger screen...LOL But they doseem to be the package deal.

Now I fish stillwater a lot, (talking lakes from 5 feet to over 100) so can someone tell me the advantage to a color screen?

flygoddess, the reviews I read all seem to say that the color screens are easier to read and that is why I was interested. I wish I could afford the side scanning models but they are still too expensive and there is a part of me that wants to keep it simple.

I hear that girl! My hubby keeps wanting to upgrade mine with GPS and all, but I am happy with my sonar. It says fish at 15', I fish at 15', I catch fish at 15' what can I say, it works...LOL Now some of those markers are in the future or a GPS. Those make sense. I don't usually cast to the side, just straight out in front, so my old tri beam is awesome.

"I've putzed around for a couple months trying to come up with a way to mount my Humminbird Fishin' Buddy 140c so that it doesn't wiggle around while I'm finning or oaring. Version 3 works like a charm - no wiggle at all!. See the pics that show how we mounted a shaped piece of plywood on the foot rest with three bolts and then sandwiched Humminbird's "cup" between two pieces of wood so that I can quickly dismount the cup to use on a regular boat. I still have room for my foot to rest and my eyes can still read everything on the screen." SD Motak

Hey 'tooner, sometimes I am jealous of you guys in your pontoon boats, I went with the Watermaster because of needing to reach the water with fins! I have been using a Cabelas FishinBuddy tube holster but it is not very stable so I will need to fabricate something else if I go with a new unit. I think it will always be in the way of the oars but that is something I can work around, maybe an abbreviated version of the pvc rod racks I have seen here. Here is a pic of my boat

I do agree that the newer buddy holsters don't fit as well as the older leigh holster. To build one like the leigh holster take a piece of PVC tube and on each end put a piece of flared PVC connections and then the new buddy will fit better. Looking through all my photos this is the only one I have of the leigh holster. I am nowhere near my house right now to get a better photo. The material used here is ABS pipe. Here is what one of the fittings looks like.

My husband has the Assault based on my experience with the watermaster. It is helpful to see where you have your monitor mounted, that is my biggest struggle with the oars-where to place the part that sticks above the oars.

Saw that some in this discussion are FishinBuddy owners, and I wanted to ask a question. Has anybody tried to alter theirs with a better and rechargeable battery? I have the 140c and it sure goes through its 6 AA's pretty quick.

FB140c owner here. I have not attempted this. Mostly because I don't get out enough to drain the batteries more than twice in a year whether on walkable or non-walkable water. As I grow into this sport though, it may become an issue. SD Motak

Flygoddess, it took me awhile to process but have a couple of questions for you. How are your Scotty rod holders attached? Mine came with straps but I like how yours are glued on, how did you do that? In order to get clearance for my oars I may need to attach a pocket. Are your NFO pockets the same style that came on my husbands Assault? Dave no longer shows pockets as an accessory so I may have to call. Here is a picture I found for another use for my old FishinBuddy holster.

They are slick. Some things to note however, one they will effect HOW you fold your boat up so pick a spot that is flat when rolling your boat. two, you need Stabond two part for PVC which Walton Marines carries but it is pricy and only last a year, so glue what you need all at once. Scuff up the spot, and use denature alcohol.

Minnows? Nope. Shad? Not’a. Aquatic insects? Not even close. Go ahead fishin’ geeks, take the micrometer from out of your pocket-protector and start measuring. It won’t take you long to realize no two specimens in...
Read More